


The Vessel

by arkemisia



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Character Death, Gen, Handsome Rhys AU, canon-divergent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-15 08:06:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7214395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arkemisia/pseuds/arkemisia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of rejecting Jack's offer to merge with the immortality suit, Rhys accepts and <i>survives</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning is the End is the Beginning

“Wow,” a voice laughed, oddly surprised. “That was unexpected,” Jack... Jack’s voice stated loudly in his ear. Rhys couldn't see a thing, couldn't tell... were his eyes open? He struggled to open them, felt them flutter numbly but remain shut.

“Nng,” he mumbled through clenched teeth and then groaned. He'd meant to say something damn it; why couldn't he?

“Ah, take it easy there, princess. You're wrapped up tighter than a mummy into leather,” Jack said flippantly. “To be honest, I thought the integration was going to kill the fuck out of you, but you’re a stubborn little thing, aren't you,” he remarked, and memories flooded back into Rhys’ brain as if a floodgate had opened..

Helios. Jack's office.  _ Rhys’ _ office, now. The immortality suit. And then… Nothing.

“Hnn,” Rhys groaned again. He couldn’t feel his fingers, or his arms and legs for that matter; couldn’t move at all. His heart started racing, pounding against his ribcage.  _ That  _ hurt.

A mewling cry escaped him as he became acutely aware of the excruciating, welling pain in his torso flaring to life, sprawling across his skin like wildfire. A vice of daggers all around him constricted his chest with every breath, crushing even when there was no air left in his lungs. He whimpered and Jack was instantly at his side, or at least, in his ear. 

“Shh, shh, shh, Rhysie,” he cooed. A sharp sequence of beeps followed him and something tickled at the nape of Rhys’ neck. “Good ol’ Jack’s right here; don’t you worry your little head,” he said, increasingly far away as a warmth spread down Rhys’ neck, smoothing over his shoulders, and dripping down his back. His breathing hitched but continued, getting deeper as he drifted off.  
  


Some time later - he had no idea when - Rhys awoke again. The bare ceiling loomed over him in the darkness and he blinked furiously, the crust and dryness in his eyes blurring the view painfully. He tried to move, to rub his eyes, only to be shushed back into stillness by the familiar boisterous voice.

“Don't push your luck, kiddo. Got a lot of stitches, and tubes, and big ol’ pins sticking out of ya. You're a regular pin cushion,” Jack insisted easily, the ever present mirth in his voice grating against Rhys’ ears. “But don't worry. If you've gotten this far now it's just a matter of healing up,” he stated.

“Upon further consideration, it's probably a good thing you survived,” Jack remarked, pacing as if talking to himself. Rhys recognized the room as one in the hospital wing, but it was unlike any he'd seen before: spacious and with a planet side view. “A live body is so much easier to maintain, even with all the enhancements and replacements we got done…” Jack continued flippantly. He paused a moment and remarked in a quieter, wistful tone: “I  _ was _ really looking forward to having a body to myself again though...” He heaved a sigh and the familiar beeping reached Rhys’ ears again and oblivion overtook him once more.   
  


Back on Pandora, the rest of the intrepid band of heroes and villains had mostly reconvened and were barreling across the desert. After the initial tension between Vallory’s gang, the con artists sisters, and the recently escaped Athena, they could all agree that the situation with Hyperion held dangerous implications. For all of them.

“Are you sure he's gonna be there?” August asked for the countless time from his perch behind Fiona, manning the turret of the vehicle Vallory had supplied. If Fiona could grip the steering wheel tighter she would have, but she'd apparently reached the limit of her strength.

“No, I'm not,” she said curtly. “But the last we heard from Vaughn was that Cassius had grabbed him and they were eating fruit. So that leads us back to the dome,” Fiona explained. “If we have any hope of getting back to Helios on  _ our own terms: _ it's Vaughn.”

“And,” Athena interjected sharply, “he's got some explaining to do.” As anticipated, the Hyperion accountant and Atlas scientist waited for them at the mostly deserted Atlas facility. They didn’t have time to mutter much of a greeting as Athena stormed in, bypassing the others.

“Did you know?!” 

Vaughn yelped as his back slammed into the wall. Athena held him against it, her hands balled up in his vest and her eyes burning. His feet kicked in the air. 

“Wow, you are really, really str-” he started with a laugh but stopped when she smashed him against the wall again. 

“Here now!” Cassius protested, staggering backwards  as the sisters and August came in. 

“Okay-okay, just stop! Stop!” Vaughn squeaked and Athena grimaced. 

“Did you know?!” she repeated. 

“I have no idea what you're talking about - what happened? Where's Rhys?” Vaughn quickly sputtered. Fiona and Sasha exchanged a look. 

“Rhys is still on Helios,” Athena spat. “With  _ Handsome Jack _ ,” she added. Vaughn’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened. 

“W-what? That’s not-” 

“We heard him. On Helios,” Fiona interrupted. “Handsome Jack addressed the whole station and announced Rhys is the new CEO,” she reported evenly. “You mean to tell us you had no clue?” she asked and got her answer from his wildly blinking eyes and gaping mouth. 

“N-No, I - this is the first I’ve heard of it!” he insisted.

“You expect us to believe that? He’s your best friend and you didn't have any idea? He didn’t tell you?” Athena pushed and Vaughn’s eyebrows drew together as he frowned with a fury.

“No, he  _ didn’t tell me,  _ okay?” he yelled with a snarl, gripping Athena’s wrists. The gladiator's eyes widened momentarily at the sudden ferocity, but his strength was gone as soon as it had appeared, and the accountant’s grip weakened. “He didn’t tell me anything...” he stammered out, his voice going quiet as he looked far away to the side searchingly. Athena narrowed her eyes at him, before exhaling through her nose and setting him back on the ground, shaking off his hands. 

“You believe him?” August asked, inclining his head to Vaughn, who slouched back against the wall, staring at a spot on the floor. Athena grunted.

“We need to get back there. They still have Gortys’ last upgrade,” she pointed out.

“Can you get us back there?” Fiona asked. “Now that your best bro’s the CEO it shouldn’t be too hard right?” she added. Vaughn shook his head, not looking at her. 

“No, I - I’m pinging him now and he’s not answering,” Vaughn said meekly. He was quiet for a moment before he started talking again, at no one in particular, more at himself really. “We always talked about it, getting to the top. Being CEO was always his dream, Handsome Jack his idol. But... we talked about  _ everything…”  _ Vaughn rambled quietly, at no one in particularly _. “ _ We’re a team,” he breathed. “Why didn’t he tell me?”

Athena looked at him over her shoulder through narrowed eyes. 

“He betrayed you. It’s what Handsome Jack does,” she stated. Vaughn straightened up then, shaking the fog from his mind and leveling her with a stubborn glare. 

“No,” he snapped. “No, Rhys wouldn’t do that. He must have a reason.” 

“Yea, and the reason’s named Handsome Jack,” Sasha said crossing her arms.

“No!” Vaughn insisted, his hands balled up into fists. 

“Then bring him up on the ECHO already,” August challenged, prodding at him with his gun. 

“I’m trying! Just, give me some time, damn it,” Vaughn protested, and brought his hand up to his glasses to make some adjustments, frowning at the floor.

“You know what - you do that,” August said with two fingers over the ECHO communicator in his ear as he stepped towards the much smaller accountant. “In the buggy. We're goin’ back to Vallory. Time for plan B.”  
  


Yet again Rhys awoke to be greeted by the bare ceiling and the glow of the planet outside his hospital room window the only source of light. Sitting upright, the monitors attached to him beeped and blared in protest, but he couldn't lie on his back any longer and swung his legs carefully over the side of the bed.

Rhys turned the gleaming golden hands over, flexing the fingers, taking in the dexterity, before clenching them into fists, wondering at the strength. His torso and much of his head were still wrapped in bandages but he realized his limbs were bare. 

Only... they weren't  _ his _ limbs anymore.

“Pretty sweet, huh?” Jack enthused from where he leaned against the hospital room wall. Rhys startled a bit, the urge to jump sending a sharp jolt of pain shooting down his spine and into his phantom robotic limbs. “With these babies you're as good as a Loader Bot - well, as strong as but better! Seeing as you've still got some of your fleshy bits, and a brain,” Jack rattled off. 

Without telling them to, Rhys’ golden hands turned over again, fingers opening wide in mirrored movements and double holographic displays popping up from the palms. “Not to mention double the hacking power,” Jack said smugly. “Well, more like quadruple since these babies are a teensy bit more advanced than your old arm. And by teensy I mean a LOT!” Jack proclaimed. “And then there's me! Two hackers for the price of one; we are  _ awesome _ .”

“Wow, that's… this is… wow,” Rhys stammered and Jack flickered closer to him.

“‘Wow this is... the best thing ever’ or ‘wow I'm suddenly having second thoughts and am going to start freaking out?’” Jack asked, bending at the waist and leveling Rhys with an intense nose to nose stare. “Because now is not the time to get cold feet, my man. You've been doing so well.”

“No-no, I'm fine; it's just…” Rhys exclaimed, shutting down the displays and flexing his fingers again. He looked down at the golden legs stemming from his shorts, the two toed metal feet solidly planted on the ground at the side of the bed. “It's just a lot to process, you know?” he breathed. Jack leaned back, smiling.

“We'll take it all in, pal. We are gonna be un-freaking-stoppable! You, me, and our sexy little cyborg body.”

With a smirk spreading across his face, Rhys whipped his left golden hand up and snapped into a finger gun; Jack shot him a grin and the right golden hand echoing the other hand’s gesture.

“You made it, kiddo. To the top. CEO of Hyperion and so,  _ so _ much more than a mere man. You -  _ we  _ \- are a goddamn hero. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful future.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, I have no idea how this story is going to end. I'm not sure if I'm going to finish it. I have four more chapters/ficlets written for this and while I'm trying to wrangle them into some semblance of order, at least one of them doesn't really fit - it might just be a one-shot spin off. 
> 
> I apologize in advance for the laziness and poor planning but I've been sitting on this for some time and I don't know what to do with it. 
> 
> When I realized I wasn't sure if I was going to finish this, I thought "maybe I'll just post it as a loosely grouped series," but then I managed to get some kind of transitions (kind of) in there and the chapters seemed too short and too codependent to be their own things... so back to chapters I went. Sorry for any confusion! 
> 
> Also I think this counts as Handsome Rhys? IDK


	2. Creeper Kamikaze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rhys reunites with an old friend and takes his first steps following in the footsteps of Handsome Jack as CEO of Hyperion.

After much recovery and rehabilitation later and Rhys was once again a walking, talking, almost fully functional, albeit half robotic, human being. He'd discovered the hospital room he'd been in wasn't in the hospital wing at all: it was specially constructed above Handsome Jack’s office, adjacent to the luxurious private quarters.

Slowly, Rhys, with Jack’s guidance, began to assert control of Hyperion: calling for more and more information and starting to issue executive commands, all from his monolithic golden throne.

"Now," Jack crooned in his ear, "We're almost ready to get back to that Vault Hunting shtick, but before that we have a  _ little  _ bit more house cleaning to attend to," he said, with a smile wide enough to split his hologram face near in two. 

Rhys rubbed his forehead. The very act made his shoulder joints scream in protest, the heavy cybernetic limbs of the immortality suit straining the attaching junctions there, his flesh still raw with healing scar tissue. 

"Huh, wassat?" Rhys muttered, while the metal pod at the small of his back hissed, making minute adjustments to his cybernetic systems and pumping fluids through the tubes run up along his spine, wrapped around his rib cage, some over his shoulders, and attached to several ports in his side and chest. Jack flickered out of existence and reappeared, inches from Rhys' nose. 

"Yvette," he stated with gleaming teeth. "You're little backstabbing friend's been waiting for you in the holding cells while you uh, survived, the integration," Jack explained, waving generally at Rhys’ body. 

Right. 

Rhys looked down at himself. His stylish suit was long gone, replaced with an open front hospital tunic. It made him all gangly gold limbs, Hyperion print scrubs, and bandages. He was woefully underdressed as the new CEO of Hyperion in his opinion.

He wasn’t yet healed enough to be able to wear real clothes. The ports and wounds needed to be easily accessible, should something arise, which it often did. 

At least, that's what Jack had said. Something along those lines. 

Rhys  _ did _ still needed to drain the excess fluids from his chest every so often - a side effect of the golden segmented bars grafted to his rib cage. He'd learned by now to feel out and anticipate when he needed to check himself back into the private hospital room, though thankfully it was happening less and less. 

So he supposed there was a good reason in Jack's logic there somewhere, and the throbbing throughout Rhys' body sapped any energy he would use to argue away anyway. Or maybe that was the meds the support unit kept injecting directly into his bloodstream. But with the aching in his bones, flesh, and phantom limbs, Rhys didn't dare fight them.

"Maybe the jury's still out on that one," Jack said with a smirk. Rhys straightened in his chair. "You aren't looking so hot, kiddo," Jack pointed out. 

"Duly noted," Rhys replied dryly. "So, what am I supposed to do? Judge her or something? Bring the hammer down; that's what you want, right?" 

"I'd be satisfied watching her disappear into the vacuum of space but eh you know, figured I'd let you get your feet wet," Jack said, floating across the top of the desk now. "The guards are bringing her in," he reported and Rhys straightened even more in the chair grimacing at the jolt. 

"Wait, what, now? Like  _ now _ -now?" he asked, blinking furiously as Jack chuckled. 

"Yes, like  _ now _ -now, cupcake. Come on, I got this idea, really great idea, just-just turn the chair around, okay? It'll be great," Jack insisted gleefully.

"What?" Rhys stuttered and Jack went to put his hand on Rhys' shoulder, but stopped short, well aware by now of his physical constraints. 

"Turn the chair around; there's no better way to say 'I'm way better than you and I'm ignoring your presence until I deign to look upon you' than the backside of a chair! Come on, come on-come-on- _ come-on _ !" 

"Okay, okay! Geez," Rhys complied, and the mechanized chair obediently swiveled around.

He didn't have to wait long until he heard the doors to his office open and several pairs of footsteps: some heavy, one light, come closer

"The prisoner as you requested, sir," a modulated voice called out from behind him. Without conscious thought, Rhys' cybernetic arm came up, and displayed a holographic feed of the room behind him, zoomed in on the helmet of the guard speaking. 

"Huh, neat," Rhys couldn't help but note.

"I know, right?" Jack's hologram asked, flickering to life again in front of him, leaning closer. "Turns out exposing your back to your enemies isn't the best idea, but this way you can both ignore them  _ and _ keep tabs on them at the same time!" Jack enthused. 

Enemies?

"Sir?" the guard called again, startling Rhys in his chair. He clenched his fists on the armrests and the display disappeared.

"Yes! Thank you; that'll be all," he shouted, hoping the surprise in his voice didn't carry. Jack appeared farther away, arms crossed.

"Nice one, pumpkin."

"You're. Not. Helping," Rhys hissed as the two heavy pairs of footsteps left. The doors slid closed and silence descended upon the cavernous room once more.

"Rhys, I… I'm sorry, okay," Yvette’s voice broke the silence and Rhys frowned. "I know you're probably still mad and all but I was doing you a favor. Vasquez was supposed to bring you back  _ alive _ ," she reiterated. Rhys found himself sighing and shaking his head, the ache there throbbing. 

"Right, because he was so accommodating when he asked you to dig your own grave," Jack laughed with a tilt of his head. Rhys could still feel the shovel in his hands. He looked back down at the golden arms and hands peeking out from the armholes of the sleeveless black and yellow shirt. The robotic digits clenched into fists.

"Yea, and you didn't think for a moment that maybe sending my arch rival with a top of the line gun to find me might end badly?" Rhys asked.

"I didn't have a choice, Rhys," her disembodied voice cried, and Rhys resisted bringing up the display again. He didn't want to see her face. "You were on the wrong side of Hyperion and… and you would've done the same thing to me," she said, and there was a lump of indigestion in his chest, a fiery gulp he just couldn't swallow. 

"And who's on the wrong side of Hyperion now, huh?" Jack laughed at Rhys' side. Rhys licked his lips, trying to get rid of the sour taste that seemed to perpetually reside in his mouth now. A side effect of the drugs or the situation, he didn't know.

The knuckle joints whined and metal ground against metal, as he clenched his fists even tighter and took a deep, shaking breath. His chest rising and falling raggedly, as he tried to still himself, he commanded the chair to turn around.

"No, Yvette, I wouldn't have!" he said, barely refraining from yelling, but unable to wait until the agonizingly slow throne like chair pivoted around. Yvette opened her mouth to respond but as the chair turned she stopped; her mouth closed again before her jaw went slack silently.

Jack appeared between them, pointing at her and holding his sides 

"Ah hahaha! Look at her face! She's gaping like a fish, oh man," he exclaimed. "That was great, kiddo; A+ timing on that one. Right in the heart. Couldn’t have done it better myself."

"Rhys, my god," she breathed, her eyes searching him. He relaxed his grip a bit then. Not many had seen him in person other than doctors since the integration operation, and he supposed the open front tunic, the bandages, and the two golden arms readily visible clutching the armrests of the throne might've given her pause. 

He ran a hand through his hair; at least that was still the same. "What've you done to yourself?" she asked. Jack flickered into being right next to her, regarding Rhys. 

"Irrelevant. You ask the questions now, my man," he proclaimed. 

“What-what have  _ I _ done?” he repeated, stuttering. “I’ve won, is what I’ve done!” he declared, a ferocity welling up in his belly that surprised even himself but he couldn't make it stop. And even if he could, he wasn't sure he would have. It was a pleasant alternative to the sickening nausea and tight throat. “Finally made it to the top; CEO of Hyperion,” Rhys felt the words rushing out of him, barely able to think. “I have  _ arrived _ !” Rhys laughed though his ribs hurt. He leaned forward in his chair, over the desk, his eyes narrowing. 

“And if you'd had  _ one ounce _ of faith in me and Vaughn, if you'd have trusted us,” he accused, his throat tight again. He couldn’t get the next words out. He wasn’t even sure what they were. He leaned back instead and took another steadying breath. “You would have it made too,” he sneered. Jack watched quietly. Yvette observed him for a moment before replying.

“If the way you look is how it looks at the top, I'm beginning to think maybe I'm best where I am,” she said crossing her arms. “You don't look so good, Rhys,” she stated with a concerned look. His frown deepened and he rubbed his forehead again. 

“Oh really? I had no idea,” he hissed spitefully. “I know, alright,” he added after a moment, as if the wind had been knocked out of him. Jack flickered to life right beside him again.

“Don't let her get to ya, kiddo,” Jack consoled. “She's trying to psych you out; besides, the scarring will fade in a couple years, and R&D is working on a more, uhhhh…” Jack trailed off as he straightened up, looking Rhys up and down. Rhys dropped his hand from his forehead and glared. “Fashionable suit,” Jack finished. “Just gotta give it some time.”

“Thanks,” Rhys groaned, shifting in the awkwardly tight bandages and loose tunic, grimacing at the way they slid over his scars and tugged at the embedded ports. He returned his gaze to Yvette, who was eying him oddly, her face still the perfect vision of concern. Rhys brought his hand back up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. “What am I supposed to do now…” he wondered aloud. Jack’s hologram jittered from one side of the chair to the other.

“Oh, oh, airlock, airlock is always a great option, though I'm also a fan of the more… Up close and personal approach. Or the Jack-Hole,” he suggested. Upon further consideration he added, “And then there’s always Dumpy again.” 

“What? N-no. Jack, no,” Rhys whined in response. Yvette’s eyebrows shot up nearly to her hairline but she said nothing. “She's my friend.”

“Ex-friend, kiddo, they all are! They all betray you in the end. I told you to watch them and here we are,” Jack said, sweeping his arms out toward the walls of his office. Rhys shook his head, stubbornly looking anywhere but the hologram.

“It's true then, isn't it?” Yvette’s voice broke into the conversation again. 

“What's she's sayin? She's gonna have to be a little more specific. Haha, we aren't exactly up to date on all the latest gossip,” Jack quipped.

“That thing Hyperion wanted out of your head - it's Handsome Jack,” she stated.

“Ohhhh right, me,” Jack laughed. He lazily turned to Rhys. “It's always me,” he said with a smile.

“It - something like that,” Rhys admitted with a glowering pout. “But good luck getting it out now,” he said. “Besides, It doesn’t matter - I’m in charge now,” he declared, but Yvette just looked at him coolly. 

“So, that was you who ordered the strike on Prosperity Junction?” she asked and he gulped. 

“This lady has been sticking her nose way too far into our business, cupcake,” Jack whistled, glaring. “Who answers to who, here?” he asked, looking back to Rhys. “Word to the wise: I know Prosperity Junction wasn’t exactly what you had in mind but believe me, it’s for the good of Pandora. But ignoring all that anyway - you gotta show some conviction, my man. You  _ don’t  _ need your employees giving you lip. For  _ anything _ .  _ You’re  _ the boss;  _ you’re  _ the hero.  _ You - are - Hyperion _ . ” With one last glance at the hologram, Rhys set his jaw and returned his simmering gaze to Yvette. He gathered every bit of forced bravado and conviction he could and continued. 

“That’s none of your business,” Rhys answered thinly. 

“Rhys,” she started, concern contorting her face. “Listen to me, I don’t know what happened down there but this? This isn’t-” she abruptly stopped talking, her expression stretching in surprise, when Rhys felt his legs abruptly straighten, launching him up out of his chair. Suddenly he was standing, his core wobbling but his legs and arms steady as the throne like chair was pushed back from the force of the movement.

“Jack?” Rhys whispered as he found himself walking around the desk, the golden mechanical legs moving of their own volition as Jack’s hologram walked easily beside him. 

“She’s trouble, Rhys,” Jack stated as they jogged down the steps with an ease at odds with Rhys’ churning stomach. “You seem to be having a hard time with this; let me help you,” Jack said cheerily as they reached ground level. Golden clanging feet carried them right up to Yvette who watched him guardedly, her eyes widening slightly but betraying nothing, the surprise long wiped from her face. “God, you are so freakin’ tall; I love it,” Jack declared as Rhys looked down at Yvette, his throat tight and dry. 

“Now is when you’re supposed to say something cool,” Holo-Jack prodded him.

“I-I don’t -” 

“Ah-ah-ah, confidence, kiddo! Remember? You don’t  _ don’t  _ anymore, you  _ do _ ,” Jack declared and suddenly golden hands shot forward, metal digits encircling Yvette’s throat as both she and Rhys gasped. Before Rhys could even sputter in protest, something slammed into his stomach like a battering ram and his entire body went rigid, before flying to the side, careening into the trophy case. Jack’s hologram artifacted and disintegrated. 

Rhys’ mechanical joints jerked and locked, his heart felt like it would burst, and he could taste blood in his mouth as he rolled onto his back. Again he stared up at a ceiling, this time of his office. His lungs wouldn’t respond and screamed for oxygen.

“J-Jack,” he tried to whisper through clenched teeth but couldn't’ manage much out as his robotic limbs whined and unlocked, haltingly responding to his will once more. He flopped over onto his stomach, knees bending and lifting his bottom half while his arms lagged behind, convulsing. He turned his head, taking a sharp breath finally, to see Yvette approaching, stun baton in hand. 

Of course she would have one, he berated himself silently as his arms finally stopped flailing enough from him to bring them under the rest of his body as well. He couldn't quite get his limbs to straighten, to get him to his feet as  he gasped, shuddering, and she strolled past him to peruse the now jumbled trophy case.

It only took her a minute to find what she was looking for. She powered down the stun baton and reached into the broken shelves to pull out a shotgun. A frigid ball of ice dropped into the pit of his stomach and he lurched forward on instinct.

Golden hands wrapped around her wrists with a fury and pushed them up, sending both Rhys and Yvette staggering. 

“Let go!” Yvette growled but his grip only tightened, the last of the electric aftershocks racking his body and jerking his hands, tight around her wrists, to the side. She grunted a bit in pain and the shotgun dropped from her hands. 

“Gonna kill me, Yvette?” he found himself asking breathlessly. “You’re  _ not  _ \- sorry - are you? You-you’re a survivor,” he said in a vitriolic rush as golden hands went still, despite her forceful writhing against him. He opened his mouth to continue but she brought a knee up sharply, crashing it right into his groin and sending a black burst of stars into his vision. Reflexively his grip released and he crumpled in upon himself, falling to the floor once again with another gasp as he covered his groin protectively, cursing in a tight voice. But Yvette wasn’t listening; instead she dashed to recover the gun. 

Though Rhys’ very vision was dark and clouded with floating, swirling dots, he discovered to his satisfaction that though his body was frozen with pain, his robotic limbs seemed unhindered by it. He got to his golden feet and thundered after her. Just as she went to dive for the gun, golden digits clamped down on her shoulder and pulled her back around. Driving her away, she reached again for the stun baton but he slapped it out of her hand with a solid metal palm, steering her further from the weapon and back towards the stairs. She reached up a hand to claw at his temple and he reared back as her fingers raked across his port. 

With an enraged growl, Rhys released her shoulder, grabbing that wrist and his other hand found its way to her throat as she stumbled backwards onto the steps. She gagged as the impact with the sharp stairs forced the air out of her lungs and the golden cybernetic hand refused to let any back in. Her eyes went wide, boring into his with unbridled emotion: fury and terror, and he lost himself in them, the fiery behind his own drowning everything else out. 

It wasn’t until later, when his vision had finally cleared, and the shocks and lingering numbness dissipated, that Rhys was finally able to blink, suddenly aware of his own ragged wheezing. And the absence of any breath, any movement, from Yvette beneath him, his metal appendages locked and unyielding upon her. 

He gasped, instantly releasing and throwing himself backwards, scrabbling away from the steps on his hands and backside. Away from the yawning windows and the golden throne. Away from Yvette until his back hit a wall. 

Everything hurt as he gulped down hasty mouthfuls of air and hunched over, bringing his knees up to his chest and pressing back against the wall, staring at Yvette's still form draped haphazardly on the bottom few steps. A buzzing flooded his ears, and his head, static overwhelming all thought. 

And that was how the hologram found him sometime later. Holo-Jack flickered and came together, getting to his feet as if he’d been splayed out on the ground unconscious. He turned around, looking this way and that for a minute getting his bearings.

“Wha-where’s- what ha-hahhh, haha, ahhh,” he sputtered, finally noticing the very dead body on the steps. “Musta - shocked us good - scrambled your systems a bit. You took care o’ her though, huh?” Jack asked as he put his hands in his pockets and sauntered over to Rhys, who did not reply. Jack stopped and tilted his head, looking down at Rhys. 

“Hey,” Jack called with a tip of his chin, “anybody in there, pumpkin? Kiddo? Cupcake?” he rattled off, eventually attempting to kick the golden toed foot, but his holographic shoe simply went through it harmlessly. He bent at the waist and put his face in Rhys’. “Helios to Rhys,” he yelled and that startled a reaction out of him. 

Rhys took another deep breath, looking up at Jack with wide bi-colored eyes. He opened his mouth but seemed unable to produce words. Jack stepped aside and settled back down to sit next to him on the floor. 

“I’m proud of you, kiddo,” Jack declared, almost idly. Rhys turned his head, just barely, to look at him out of the corner of his eyes, his breathing slowing and staggering. Everything felt fuzzy and wobbly. “You handled that well, and all by yourself,” he added and Rhys’ brows furrowed. 

“Handled that well?” he echoed. “I - she - she’s dead!” 

“Yea, so?” 

“It - she - she’s my friend - it -”

“She did just try to kill you, didn’t she?” 

“Yea, but -” 

“I'm telling you, kiddo,  _ ex _ -friend.” 

“Yea, but - it’s kinda messed up, isn't it?,” Rhys breathed. 

“Yea.  _ Kinda _ ,” Jack replied with a dismissive scoff. Rhys rubbed his stomach, where she’d jabbed him with the baton. It still tingled at his touch and he swallowed roughly as his arm brushed one of the tender ports in his side.

“Listen, Rhys, I get it,” Jack said. “You’re  _ concerned.  _ But you’ve gotta be stronger than that. You  _ are  _ stronger than that. These people aren’t your  _ friends _ . Being the hero means you have to make the hard decisions. And I know - I  _ know  _ you can do this. I mean, hell, look at you! You’re a goddamn super powered cyborg. You - do not flinch - at doing the hard stuff,” Jack enthused, chopping the air with a hand emphatically. Rhys looked at him skeptically. “Okay, you kind of do sometimes but what matters is you've got guts where it counts.”

“Me? I don’t think I could’ve done it,” Jack said, leveling Rhys a look, which he returned in disbelief. “Yea - I don’t think I could’ve -” Jack said, pausing to look down at Rhys’ hands wrapped around his legs, “Chopped… off my limbs… and stuck a bunch of… stuff… in places... “ he said, scratching the back of his head, “to get ahead but look at you!” Rhys looked away from him then, back down to his own golden appendages quietly. “I mean, I didn’t  _ need _ to either,” Jack added quickly and quietly, “but uh, yea.” 

“That -” Jack said, waving at Yvette’s body on the stairs, “that’s the easy part. Don’t you worry your little head about it. You,” he said, going to jab Rhys in the shoulder, “have already done the hardest part. It is smooth sailing from here on out.”  Rhys put a metal hand to his head and took another deep breath through his nose.

“Come on, what d’ya say we call a cleaning bot in here and we go have some fun trying out attachments for your arms, eh? Get some toys for the trip back to Pandora,” Holo-Jack suggested and Rhys let his hand drop. “We’ve still got a Vault to find. Don’t sweat the small stuff, kiddo. Keep your eyes on the prize. It'll be worth it a million times over.”

“Yea…” Rhys muttered, though he still felt sick. “Yea, okay.” His robotic legs unfolded as he got back to his feet, swaying slightly. His right hand came up to summon the bots and numbly his legs carried him out of the dark, cavernous office aglow in Pandora’s light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ho Boy. This was actually pretty hard to write because (a) I love Yvette and (b) it was hard to get Rhys' reactions down right even though this was one of the first scenes I started writing for this fic. 
> 
> Did I mention this is not going to be a very happy fic?
> 
> Also those of you that have read my other stuff might see some similar themes, elements, plot devices, or whatnot... Sorry if it's repetitive.


End file.
